Beck Glass

Spruce Pine, NC

This hand blown, sandblasted glass is the work of North Carolina artists Rick & Valerie Beck, using “sand-carved” techniques.  

Recent works have depicted classic fables including: Aesop’s The Goose with the Golden Eggs, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Hare & the Tortoise, The Lion & the Mouse

The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson

Peter and the Wolf, which is paraphrased from Serge Prokofiev’s musical

A Ballad of China, a fable about Dilliki Dolliki Dinah, by Laura Richards. 

Illustrating a story in glass is not easy.  First, Rick blows a shallow bowl with three layers of color plus a clear exterior layer.  Then Valerie employs a resist mask on which the illustrations are drawn and applied to this shallow bowl.  The bowl is then sandblasted, repeating with different layers as desired.  The resist is removed and the piece is washed and finished.  Natives of Nebraska, Beck Glass is now located in Spruce Pine, NC.  

 Valerie’s statement:  All of these are stories and fables that my sister read to me many, many times.  Except for “Peter and the Wolf,” for that story, we had a very old and very large record that was recorded in 1950. (yes, before my time) It was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra & narrated by Eleanor Roosevelt.  We loved listening to the introduction of the instruments and their corresponding characters.  I don’t know if there was a book that went with it.  But I do know that the music and Mrs. Roosevelt’s voice were enough to evoke vivid images